Do You Remember Yesterday?
by Kouga518
Summary: Paine remembers when she finally confessed her feelings to Rikku. RikkuPaine pairing. No mature content. One shot.


A/N: Hello all! This is my first attempt for a shoujo-ai fiction, brought on by my recent purchase of FF X-2. So sit back and enjoy the story.

**Do You Remember Yesterday?**

Paine lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling, smiling to herself. In the last 3 years, her life had changed so dramatically; even beyond what she had thought would be possible. Lying in the bed, she began to think about the events that led up to her current state. She glanced over at the clock to her right on the nightstand. It was 11:46 pm. She stretched slightly and lay still, allowing her mind to wander back to those previous years.

-Three Years Ago-

She remembered that she started having feelings she never thought she could 6 months after destroying Vegnagun. Tidus had returned from the Farplane and was reunited with Yuna. The two of them shortly afterward were married, and Yuna left the Celsius, saying that she had to catch up with her lover. She did occasionally come back on board to keep up with her old friends, but most of the time, only herself, Buddy, Shinra, Brother, and Rikku manned the Celsius.

"_Rikku…_"

The object of her thought process. After Yuna left, Rikku began hanging around Paine far more often. Paine remembered how much it had annoyed her. "How her cousin can put up with her incessant ramblings is beyond me," she used to think to herself. The two of them looked like opposite poles of a planet when put in the same room, especially for extended periods of time. Paine dressed in all black and tended to be very distant and sometimes downright cold to other people. Rikku, on the other hand, was a very bubbly and vibrant individual. She usually said whatever she was thinking right on the spot, and often opened up to people she hardly knew just a little too much. Even her clothing was vibrant. A bright yellow bikini top and brown shorts, complemented by a color changing scarf that went from yellow to red in different places and bright yellow boots.

During missions to find spheres, she would often talk about anything she could think of (which mind you, was sometimes VERY random). Paine would usually shoot her small, one-syllable words or phrases in response, knowing full well that Rikku usually became more annoying if ignored. One of the things Paine used to hate was when Rikku would ask her about her past. The average conversation of which would look something like this:

"Hey Paine, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"What happened in your past that you don't wanna talk about?"

"Rikku, I thought I told you that now's not the time."

"You said that 2 days ago, when is the time gonna come?"

"When I say it has."

"Ah, come on Painey, just one little snippet of info."

"Minus 5 respect points, Rikku."

"Oh, your such a meanie."

Truthfully, now that she looked back on it, she couldn't understand why she had kept all of her past bottled up. Maybe she was afraid of letting people in, fearing the rejection or ridicule that she may be exposed to. Or maybe it was just she didn't want to have to allow her emotions to come to the surface. She learned from an early age that allowing your emotions to show was a sign of weakness. And in the world, there was no room for weakness.

She soon learned that emotions were not a weakness, however. Emotions are what make us what we are; human. So on a day that seemed just as regular as any other (Except for the fact that Buddy had to pilot the ship, as Brother had too much liquor with the extra gil he had made the previous night), she sat at the bar and was pouring herself a drink when the elevator door hissed open. Paine didn't even need to turn around to tell who it was. The Al Bhed thief made an unusual amount of noise for one who was supposed to be a silent pickpocket.

She plopped herself down in the stool next to Paine and started her usual ramblings about anything she could think of. It was during the conversation that Paine actually to the time to look the younger woman over.

"_She pretty good looking, at least she has that going for her,"_ Paine thought to herself.

Then she stopped, almost dead in her tracks. Did she just think that to herself? She mentally cursed herself for even THINKING that, but then she noticed just how rigid she had gone from the shock. She quickly tried to re-establish her tougher-than-stone appearance before Rikku noticed her sudden change of appearance.

"Hey Paine, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," Rikku said, with a hint of concern in her voice.

Too late. She noticed. Paine's mind began running frantically, trying to think of something to say. All she could think of were the Al Bhed's emerald eyes drilling a hole in her head waiting for a response. She was finally able to think of something to say, but could hardly fumble it out.

"I…uh…well…I gotta go. Just remembered that Buddy needed me to help him with some….um….stuff." With that she shot out of her stool and into the elevator in record time, continuously hitting the "Deck" button on the elevator until the elevator doors closed. Just before they did close, she caught a glimpse of Rikku. She had a puzzled expression on her face, almost as if it was a mixture of concern and disappointment.

When she finally reached the deck of the ship, she began pacing back and forth. She suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach, and she had no idea why. She started mentally kicking herself for allowing herself to get caught off guard. And by Rikku no less. What was worse was that now she couldn't get the blasted thief off her mind. She kept thinking about that look on her face and what it meant. She just kept replaying the last five minutes over and over again in her head like a broken record.

"_Pull yourself together Paine! You're losing it! You don't lose it! You're too strong to allow that to happen to yourself!"_

She thought that the more she thought that, the more she would believe it. It didn't help. Within another two minutes, her mind drifted toward the little Al Bhed again. She just kept seeing her face, then her arms and legs. Then her chest…

It was about at this time that Paine started hitting herself in the temple with her palm.

"_What form of madness is this?! Why do I keep thinking about her? Do I like her or something?"_

It was on that note that Paine just stopped, quite literally. She didn't even think, or move, or for a few seconds draw in a breath. She just stared out into the sky for a moment as she thought about that. Then the same statement began to play over and over again in her head.

"_Do I like her?"_

The statement kept playing and playing, sounding almost rhetorical. But then she suddenly began to move, and think, and (thankfully for her sake) breathe again. She then asked herself the same question again, but this time it sounded more like a question and less like a repetition.

"_Well, do I like her? Do I love her?"_

It was on the second of the two questions that she came to realize those emotions she thought she had buried many years ago, thinking they would never resurface. And yet there they were. Or had they always been there, knocking at the proverbial door to her heart waiting to be let in? All the sudden rush of emotion almost caused her to fall over. She just then noticed that her legs were trembling, threatening to give like a poorly constructed bridge beneath her. She sat down on the ground cross-legged and looked straight down at the deck. After a few moments of sitting like this, the realization hit her like a sledgehammer. So sudden was the realization, so fierce, that all her mental facades she had built over the years crumbled around her. The entire stony complexion. All the coldness and darkness.

She began to cry. Right there on the spot. To anyone that might have suddenly walked up on deck, they'd be EXTREMELY surprised. In fact, that's exactly what happened too.

To anyone who had witnessed the events of the last 10 or so minutes, they would have believed Rikku suddenly walking up on the deck to check on Paine would have been a sign of some form of Divine Intervention. Maybe even it was Fate. Or maybe it was a random set of coincidences that led to this event, but it doesn't really matter now does it? As Rikku walked up on deck, she saw Paine sitting on the deck, crying her eyes out.

Paine looked up in time to see her walk onto the deck. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, and was at a complete loss as to what to do. Her mind was trying to decide if she should just try and run for it, or if she should confess. She decided that the former option was a good idea. And it would have been, had her legs accepted the mind's movement orders. But her legs decided to be traitors to her mind and refused to function. So there she sat, crying until her eyes were red (Redder then usual, of course) while a rather concerned looking Rikku got closer to her. Paine could tell that Rikku was saying something to her, but her mind was now working too fast to think of something that she didn't even hear what the words were.

What finally stopped her mind was Rikku putting her hand on Paine's shoulder and nudging her some. Her mind finally went blank and heard what Rikku had been saying all along.

"Paine, what's the matter?"

Had Paine been her usual self, the question would have seemed silly. Problem was Paine was NOT her usual self, in any way, shape, or form. Paine just stared back into the Al Bhed's emerald eyes at a loss. Finally, something inside of her broke through the remains of her mental barricades and spoke to her in an almost commanding tone.

"_Tell her how you feel."_

Suddenly Paine shook her head. She began back talking her newfound conscious.

"_No! I CAN'T tell her! She'll laugh at me. Or worse. What if she hates me? What if she rejects me? What if…?"_

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the other voice again.

"_Then that is how it is meant to be. But if you never tell her, she will never know how you feel for her. And you may lose your only opportunity to tell her. Do you really want to risk it? Wouldn't at least speaking your mind to her, as her friend, and knowing for sure if she reciprocates your feelings or not, be better than walking through life having never known?"_

Paine finally stopped crying. She'd finally reached that moment in someone's mind when you come to a final decision on something. She looked up again and spoke.

"Rikku, do you have a moment?"

Rikku almost fell backwards from the sudden change of tone in her friend. She froze for a second before responding.

"Sure I do. What's on your mind?"

Rikku sat next to Paine and waited for her to begin. It took Paine several moments to begin, having to search for the proper words.

"Rikku, how do you know when you like someone. Like, really like someone. Even beyond a friendly level?"

Realizing the magnitude of what was being asked of her, Rikku also very suddenly changed her one tone to that of a concerned, helpful friend.

"Well, there is someone I like. And I think I began to realize my feeling for them when I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's like no matter what your doing or where you are, that person is on you mind. Even when you close your eyes at night to sleep, their face is waiting for you. Why the sudden question Paine? Do you like someone?"

Paine took this all in and cracked a small smile. She really did like Rikku. Taking another few moments to think of the proper words, she began again.

"Then I guess I have something to confess. But please promise me you won't run off on me after I tell you?" There was an almost pleading look in Paine's eye.

The look shocked Rikku a bit. But inside that look was something more. Almost as if the real Paine had finally surfaced, not the stone-faced one that had only 15 minutes prior been present. Rikku smiled and said, "I promise, cross my heart hope to die."

Paine, relieved at the answer, spoke, "I've been thinking about you a lot. What you saw back there, it was me coming to realize what I was seeing. It shocked me, and I freaked out some. I know this all sounds crazy, and maybe I am crazy, but I think I like you Rikku. Like, really like you." After saying this, Paine averted her eyes from Rikku's and closed them, waiting for the coming judgment.

Some part of her had already conceded to the fact that she would be rejected right there. So she averted her eyes to avoid the rejection or ridicule that Rikku would have in her eyes. Had she not of averted her eyes, however, she would have seen Rikku's eyes glaze over. But not from ridicule or disgust, but from happiness. So when Rikku pulled Paine into an embrace and began stroking the warrior's over gelled silver hair, she was more that slightly surprised. But it was the good kind. She smiled, relaxing her now-realized-over-tensed muscles, giving into the warmth of the embrace. It was then that she heard Rikku whisper something to her.

"Then I have something to confess to you. I like you too Paine. I was afraid of telling you in case you pushed me away."

The two came up and looked into each other's eyes. But this time Paine saw something more inside her eyes. She saw her own reflection, as if it was the reflection of what Rikku was staring so deeply into. It was then that they finally kissed. Paine remembered how tender it was. It was more than she had ever hoped for. When they finally broke away, they returned to their embrace.

Very quietly, Rikku whispered into Paine's ear, "In fact, I think I love you."

-Present Day-

As Paine lay awake staring at the ceiling of the motel she was in, she smiled as she remembered that first time. It felt like it was only yesterday. Those three years were filled with happy memories. Paine was no longer the emotionless rock she used to be. She buried that part of her for good in the back of her mind, banishing it from her sight and mind.

That thief whom had stolen her heart changed her. Or had she always had that part of her waiting for the right person to come and unlock that part of her heart again? But did it matter? In the end, she was where she wanted to be. Where she'd always wanted to be.

As she finished this thought, she felt the little blonde haired girl move a little next to her. She had her head rested against Paine's chest and was letting out small little snores rhythmically. Paine smiled and kissed her on the head. She then leaned down and whispered in her ear so that only she could hear:

"I think I love you too."


End file.
